Strikes December 2022: Ministers to hold Cobra meetings as country faces wave of walkouts

It is “unforgivable” for the health secretary to reject an offer by nursing leaders to suspend a planned strike this week in return for pay talks, a shadow health and social care minister has said.

Labour MP Liz Kendall told BBC Breakfast: “You asked what we would do, and let me say this very simply.

Yesterday, the RCN [Royal College of Nursing] and Unison said they would, just at the 11th hour, press pause on the strikes if the health secretary would meet with them to discuss pay or go through the arbitration process Acas.

“And I think it’s unforgivable that he’s not doing that, because nobody wants to see the strikes. Passengers and patients don’t want to see the trains on strike or the NHS nurses on strike.

“The way to solve that is to get around the table”.

Britain’s economy grew by 0.5 per cent between September and October in a rebound from a 0.6 per cent contraction the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics.

However, it said it had shrunk over a longer period:

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) formally notified Royal Mail of the November strikes last month and confirmed six new strike dates in December on November 17.

The postal service apologised to customers, saying that though it “well-developed contingency plans” it is unable to “fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce”.

“We’ll be doing what we can to keep services running, but we are sorry this planned strike action is likely to cause you some disruption,” the company said on the website.

The government rejected a last-minute offer from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) yesterday to “press pause” on strike plans this week if the Health Secretary entered negotiations on pay.

Thousands of RCN members are due to take part in unprecedented strike action on 15 December and 20 December with the trade union’s general secretary warning that the Government is playing a “dangerous game”.

“The Government is looking desperate and appears to be misleading the public,” Pat Cullen said.
“The Foreign Secretary is completely wrong to say this is a matter for the NHS and not ministers. The Government makes the decisions on pay for NHS staff. They must correct the record and start being honest.

“My offer of negotiations has not been accepted today – the Government is playing a dangerous game.”

Unison’s head of health Sara Gorton echoed that message.

“The wage rise given to health workers this year simply hasn’t been enough to stop staff leaving in droves. Without enough employees in the NHS, patients will go on waiting too long for ambulances and for treatment to start,” she said.

“Instead of putting plans in place for the strike days, ministers should be concentrating all their efforts on ending the disputes.”

2022 has been the worst year for the growth of real wages for people since 1977 as inflation hit four decade high squeezing household incomes, according to the analysis of official statistics by the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

It said that real wages, the amount people earned in relation to their cost of living, plunged by an average of £76 a month in 2022 as income did not keep pace with inflation.

The TUC said of workers “being pushed to breaking point” by years of pay austerity.

“Family budgets have been shredded by soaring bills and more than a decade of pay being held down. The Conservatives have presided over the longest real wage squeeze in over 200 years,” general secretary, Frances O’Grady said.

“The Tories’ failure to get pay rising has left millions of households brutally exposed to the cost of living emergency. It’s time to reward work – not wealth. We cannot be a country where NHS and teaching staff have to use food banks , while City bankers are given unlimited bonuses.”

The Cabinet Office has now confirmed that military personnel are being deployed and trained to drive ambulances.

They said they are being deployed at NHS hospital trusts to “familiarise themselves with vehicles” ahead of strikes scheduled for 21 and 28 December.

It comes after government sources said the decision was not confirmed yet and a formal request was sent to the Ministry of Defence.

Ministers have been accused of a “dangerous” attitude toward strikes as the country braces itself for a wave of walkouts that threaten to bring parts of Britain to a standstill.

Intensified plans to call up the military and civil servants will be discussed at an emergency Cobra meeting on Monday. A second will be held just two days later, less than 24 hours before an unprecedented strike by nurses is due to begin.

But just hours after they warned patients would face “significant” risks, ministers rejected an offer from nursing leaders to suspend Thursday’s action in return for pay talks with the health secretary.

Read The Independent’s full report.

Transport Secretary has said that many families in the UK will be forced to observe virtual Christmas and miss seeing their loved ones because of rail strikes.

It is the first time a government minister has suggested that the strikes would have a similar impact on the people as Covid this winter.

“This year, many families may have no choice but to alter their plans and have a virtual Christmas again,” said Mark Harper, writing in the Telegraph. “This isn’t due to a new public health pandemic, but because of rail strikes, planned by the RMT union to cause misery during the festive period.”

He called on the RMT members to call off the strike as “this dire situation is not inevitable”.

“Today, RMT union members have a chance to end it. The Government has worked hard to ensure that there is a fair two-year pay deal on the table, one that is not only more generous than pay deals across the private sector, but also comes with a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.

“RMT union leaders have come out against this deal and remain ideologically intent on pressing ahead with strikes. The very future of our rail industry is too important to be derailed by ideological strike action.”

Drivers in the UK are being warned to expect lengthy traffic jams on major routes across the country in the run-up to Christmas as more people are expected to take cars amid strikes.

There would be an estimate of 17 million cars on UK roads on the busiest days for getaway travel will be 23 December and Christmas eve, the AA estimated.

A survey of more than 12,000 motorists indicated that 51 per cent plan to make a car journey on 23 December with 50 per cent expecting to make a trip the following day.

Disruption to rail services due to strikes and engineering work mean more people are likely to switch from trains to road vehicles for their getaway journey.

The M25, the M5 between Bristol and Weston-super-Mare, and the M6 around Birmingham have been identified as potential congestion hotspots by the AA.

Long delays are also anticipated on the M1 from Luton northwards, the M60 and M62 in north-west England, the M4 which runs between west London and south-west Wales, and the M27 in Hampshire.

Additionally, 17 December is expected to be the busiest day for High Streets, retail outlets and shopping centres as 20 per cent of respondents to the survey said they will go Christmas shopping on that day.

AA president Edmund King said: “While December 23 and Christmas Eve look set to be the busiest travelling days, planned industrial action by rail staff may lead to increased levels of cars on our roads.

“Our expert patrols will be working throughout the holidays to help fix cars that suffer problems, while providing assistance to drivers should they be involved in a crash.

“Many breakdowns are preventable, so checking your vehicle before you set off is very important.”

An Environment agency spokesperson has said it is prepared to mitigate disruptions and respond to incidents as thousands of staff members are to take industrial action in the coming weeks.

The members of the Unison union will be working to rule from today in a dispute over pay. They will only work their contracted hours and will refuse to volunteer for “on call” cover for several days.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We have plans in place to minimise any disruption to our essential work to protect the environment and respond to incidents.

“As a public-sector organisation, the Environment Agency remains bound by the pay policy of the government of the day.”